CN111243268A

CN111243268A - Mitigation of traffic oscillations on roads

Info

Publication number: CN111243268A
Application number: CN201911190053.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杨昊; 尾口健太郎
Original assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Current assignee: Toyota Motor Corp
Priority date: 2018-11-28
Filing date: 2019-11-28
Publication date: 2020-06-05
Anticipated expiration: 2039-11-28
Also published as: US20220148420A1; US11232705B2; JP2020113259A; US11694548B2; JP7247868B2; CN111243268B; US20200168084A1

Abstract

Mitigation of traffic oscillations on a roadway is disclosed. In an example, a method determines a first controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road and determines a control lane in the mitigation road segment. The control lane includes a first controllable vehicle and is encumberable by the first controllable vehicle. The method determines a first open lane in the mitigation road segment and applies a target mitigation speed to a first controllable vehicle in the control lane. The first open lane is adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment, and the target mitigation speed is based on a traffic state of the first open lane. The target mitigation speed adjusts the flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

Description

Mitigation of traffic oscillations on roads

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to mitigation of traffic oscillations on roads, and in more specific examples to the use of controllable vehicles to mitigate traffic oscillations on roads.

Background

Traffic oscillations are stop-and-go driving conditions in which the vehicle accelerates and decelerates frequently. Acceleration and deceleration of multiple automobiles due to traffic oscillations often results in excessive fuel consumption and generation of significant vehicle emissions. Today, some modern systems rely on autonomous driving and remotely navigable vehicles to manipulate the flow of traffic on the road to mitigate traffic oscillations. These prior systems generally require that the vehicles collectively block all lanes of the roadway to prevent other vehicles from advancing past these controllable vehicles, thereby smoothing traffic oscillations. However, in many cases, the vehicle cannot block all lanes of the road. Thus, other vehicles may perform one or more lane-change maneuvers to move to one or more lanes that are not blocked by the obstructing vehicle and then proceed past these vehicles through the non-blocked lanes. Thus, this approach is often inefficient and even unsuitable for mitigating traffic waves in these situations. Furthermore, existing solutions often require a large number of remotely navigable vehicles on the road to operate. Thus, it is often impractical or impossible for these existing solutions to mitigate traffic oscillations in a variety of traffic situations including an insufficient number of navigable vehicles.

Disclosure of Invention

The subject matter described in this disclosure overcomes the drawbacks and limitations of existing solutions by providing novel techniques for alleviating traffic congestion and smoothing traffic oscillations on roads.

According to one innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure, a computer-implemented method includes: determining a first controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road; determining a control lane in the mitigation road segment, the control lane including and being encumberable by a first controllable vehicle (impadible); determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment, the first open lane adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment; and applying a target speed of mitigation to the first controllable vehicle in the control lane, the target speed of mitigation based on the traffic state of the first open lane, the target speed of mitigation adjusting a flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

In general, another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a computer-implemented method that includes: determining a first controllable vehicle and a second controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road; monitoring a distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle; determining that a distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle satisfies a proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp; in response to determining that the distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle satisfies the proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp, determining to mitigate a control lane and an encumberable lane in the road segment, the control lane including the first controllable vehicle and being encumbered by the first controllable vehicle, the encumberable lane including the second controllable vehicle and being encumbered by the second controllable vehicle; determining an open lane in the mitigation road segment, the open lane adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment; and applying a target mitigation speed to a first controllable vehicle in the control lane and a second controllable vehicle in the encumberable lane, the target mitigation speed being based on a traffic state of the open lane, the target mitigation speed adjusting a flow of traffic flowing through the open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

In general, another innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this disclosure can be implemented in a system that includes: one or more processors; one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to: determining a first controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road; determining a control lane in the mitigation road segment, the control lane including and being encumberable by the first controllable vehicle; determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment, the first open lane adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment; and applying a target speed of mitigation to the first controllable vehicle in the control lane, the target speed of mitigation based on the traffic state of the first open lane, the target speed of mitigation adjusting a flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features: the target mitigation speed increases the flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane over the flow rate of overtaking of the first controllable vehicle traveling in the control lane at the target mitigation speed; determining a second open lane in the mitigation road segment, and wherein the target mitigation speed maximizes a total flow rate of overtaking traffic flowing through the first open lane and flowing through the second open lane beyond the first controllable vehicle traveling in the control lane at the target mitigation speed; determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment includes: determining one or more neighboring controllable vehicles in proximity to a first controllable vehicle in the mitigation road segment, and determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment that does not include the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles and cannot be obstructed by the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles; determining neighboring controllable vehicles located near the first controllable vehicle in the mitigation road segment, determining an encumberable lane in the mitigation road segment, the encumberable lane including the neighboring controllable vehicles and being encumberable by the neighboring controllable vehicles, and applying the target mitigation speed to the neighboring controllable vehicles in the encumberable lane; determining one or more open lanes and one or more blockable lanes in a mitigation road segment, the one or more open lanes including a first open lane, generating a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions, the control lanes and the one or more blockable lanes in the mitigation road segment being unobstructed under unobstructed traffic conditions, generating a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions, the control lanes and the one or more blockable lanes in the mitigation road segment being blocked (impede) under obstructed traffic conditions, determining a target traffic state to mitigate an upstream portion of the road segment, the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment being located upstream of the first controllable vehicle and based on the first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions, the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions, and the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment Determining a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle from the target traffic state; generating a first traffic map associated with a roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition includes: monitoring traffic data of a road, calculating one or more traffic metrics associated with the road based on the traffic data of the road, determining one or more road characteristics of the road, generating a first traffic map associated with the road in unobstructed traffic conditions based on the initial traffic map, the one or more traffic metrics associated with the road and the one or more road characteristics of the road, and wherein the first traffic map indicates a relationship between flow rate and vehicle density on the road or a relationship between vehicle speed and vehicle density on the road in unobstructed traffic conditions; the traffic data for the road includes one or more of flow velocity, vehicle density, and vehicle speed associated with a plurality of segments of the road at a plurality of timestamps, the one or more traffic metrics associated with the road include one or more of road capacity, capacity vehicle density corresponding to the road capacity, and crowded vehicle density associated with the road, and the one or more road characteristics of the road include one or more of a speed limit and a number of vehicles associated with the road; generating a second traffic map associated with one or more open lanes in obstructed traffic conditions includes: monitoring traffic data of a road, calculating one or more traffic metrics associated with the road based on the traffic data of the road, calculating one or more traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes based on the traffic volume associated with the road and the number of open lanes in the mitigation road segment, determining one or more road characteristics of the one or more open lanes, generating a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition based on the initial traffic map, the one or more traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes, and the one or more road characteristics of the one or more open lanes, and wherein the second traffic map indicates a relationship between flow velocity in the one or more open lanes and vehicle density or a relationship between vehicle speed in the one or more open lanes and vehicle density under obstructed traffic conditions; determining a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of a mitigation road segment includes: determining a traffic wave on the road and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave, determining a vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp, estimating an average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at a future timestamp based on the vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp and the one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave, and determining a target traffic state for an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment based on the average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the future timestamp; determining traffic waves on a roadway and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic waves includes: receiving vehicle movement data of one or more vehicles located on the road at a plurality of timestamps, determining a plurality of vehicle density distributions associated with the road at the plurality of timestamps based on the vehicle movement data of the one or more vehicles located on the road at the plurality of timestamps and a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions, and determining a traffic wave on the road and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave based on the plurality of vehicle density distributions associated with the road at the plurality of timestamps; the vehicle movement data of one or more vehicles located on the roadway at the plurality of time stamps comprises: one or more of a vehicle position, a vehicle speed, and a vehicle lane of a vehicle of the one or more vehicles at a respective timestamp of the plurality of timestamps, and the one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave include one or more of a propagation speed, a propagation distance, a coverage area of a traffic stopping area associated with the traffic wave, and a coverage area of a traffic moving area associated with the traffic wave; determining a vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp comprises receiving vehicle movement data for the vehicle, the vehicle movement data comprising a vehicle speed of the vehicle at a vehicle location in the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp, and determining the vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp based on the vehicle speed of the vehicle at the current timestamp and a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions; determining a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of a mitigation road segment includes: determining a target traffic condition on a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions based on the average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the future timestamp, and wherein the target mitigation speed transitions an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment to a target traffic state having the average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the future timestamp; determining a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle comprises: determining a tangent line that includes a target traffic state on a first traffic map associated with the roadway under unobstructed traffic conditions and that is tangent to a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions, determining an initial traffic state of the one or more open lanes on the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions based on the tangent line, the traffic state of the first open lane being the initial traffic state of the one or more open lanes, and determining a target rate of mitigation for the first controllable vehicle based on a slope of a state transition line, the state transition line includes a starting traffic state on a second traffic map associated with one or more open lanes in a blocked traffic condition and a target traffic state on a first traffic map associated with a roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition.

These and other embodiments may each optionally include one or more of the following features: determining a first controllable vehicle, wherein the distance between the first controllable vehicle and the traffic jam meets a jam distance threshold value; and determining a second controllable vehicle, the distance between the second controllable vehicle and the first controllable vehicle satisfying the initial vehicle distance threshold.

Other implementations of one or more of these and other aspects include corresponding systems, apparatus, and computer programs, encoded on non-transitory computer storage devices, configured to perform the actions of the methods.

In many respects, novel techniques for alleviating traffic congestion and smoothing traffic oscillations on roads are particularly advantageous in the present disclosure. For example, the techniques described herein can effectively address traffic congestion and mitigate traffic oscillations even though one or more vehicles may perform lane-change maneuvers and/or cut-in maneuvers on one or more lanes of a roadway. Therefore, the present technology can flexibly solve traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillation on a road including a plurality of lanes in various traffic environments. As another example, the present technology can address traffic congestion and mitigate traffic oscillations with a single controllable vehicle traveling on one lane of a roadway. Thus, the present technique may be advantageously applied even if the traffic flow on the road includes only a limited number of controllable vehicles. Further, the techniques described herein may adjust vehicle movement of controllable vehicles and other vehicles to address traffic congestion and mitigate traffic oscillations. Because traffic congestion is solved and traffic oscillation is relieved, traffic flow of the whole road can be promoted, and the overall energy efficiency of the vehicle can be remarkably improved.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing advantages are provided by way of example, and that the techniques may have many other advantages and benefits.

The present disclosure is illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in which like reference numerals are used to refer to similar elements.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for resolving traffic congestion and mitigating traffic oscillations on a road.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an example traffic mitigation application.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example method for resolving traffic congestion and mitigating traffic oscillations.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example method for determining a target mitigation speed for a controllable vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method for generating a traffic model associated with a mitigation road segment of a road.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method for determining a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of a mitigation road segment.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method for determining traffic waves and propagation parameters of traffic waves on a roadway.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of another example method for resolving traffic congestion and mitigating traffic oscillations.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example traffic model associated with a mitigation road segment of a road.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example vehicle cut-in model associated with a mitigation road segment of a road.

Fig. 10A illustrates an exemplary traffic congestion situation on a road.

Fig. 10B illustrates an example of traffic flow on a road adjusted to address traffic congestion and mitigate traffic oscillations.

Detailed Description

The techniques described herein may alleviate traffic congestion and/or smooth traffic oscillations on roads. As described in further detail below, the technology includes, among other aspects, various aspects such as traffic mitigation methods, systems, computing devices, computer program products, and apparatus.

An example traffic mitigation system may determine traffic congestion on a road, determine a first controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of the road, and determine one or more neighboring controllable vehicles located near the first controllable vehicle. The traffic mitigation system may determine a control lane that includes the first controllable vehicle and that is encumberable by the first controllable vehicle, one or more encumberable lanes that include one or more neighboring controllable vehicles and that are encumberable by the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles, and one or more unobstructed open lanes in the mitigation road segment. The traffic mitigation system may determine a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle and apply the target mitigation speed to the first controllable vehicle in the control lane and/or one or more neighboring controllable vehicles in the one or more encumberable lanes. Since the first controllable vehicle may travel on the control lane at the target mitigation speed and the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles may travel on the one or more encumbered lanes at the target mitigation speed, the flow of traffic reaching the congested area through the one or more open lanes beyond the first controllable vehicle and/or the one or more neighboring vehicles may be adjusted to mitigate traffic congestion and/or smooth traffic oscillations.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example system 100 for resolving traffic congestion and/or mitigating traffic oscillations on a roadway. As shown, the system 100 includes a server 101 and one or more traffic monitoring devices 109a … 109n coupled for electronic communication via a network 105. The system 100 also includes one or more controllable vehicles 103a … 103n that can be controlled to alleviate traffic congestion. The controllable vehicles 103a … 103n are communicatively coupled to other entities of the system 100.

The controllable vehicle 103 includes one or more computing devices 152 having sensor(s) 113, processor(s) 115, memory(s) 117, communication unit(s) 119, vehicle data store 121, and/or traffic mitigation application 120. Examples of computing device(s) 152 may include a virtual or physical computer processor, control unit, microcontroller, etc., coupled to other components of controllable vehicle(s) 103, such as one or more sensors 113, one or more actuators, etc.

The controllable vehicle 103 is a vehicle that is capable of controlling one or more aspects of the vehicle independently of the vehicle's human driver. For example, a controllable vehicle may adjust dynamic aspects of the vehicle, such as the vehicle's speed, acceleration, steering, braking, suspension, etc., independent of the vehicle's human driver. For example, the processor 115 of the controllable vehicle 103 may control various actuators and/or actuators (e.g., including a fuel system, an engine, a braking system, a steering system, etc.) to regulate movement and speed of the vehicle 103.

The controllable vehicle is responsive to instructions generated by the onboard processor and/or received via a computer network (e.g., via a wireless network). The controllable vehicle(s) 103 may be coupled to the network 105 via signal line 141 and may send and receive data via the network. For example, a controllable vehicle 103 may send data to and receive data from other controllable vehicle(s) 103, traffic monitoring device(s) 109, responding vehicle(s) 107, and/or server(s) 101. Non-limiting examples of controllable vehicle(s) 103 include automobiles, buses, trucks, boats, airplanes, biomimetic implants, robots, unmanned airplanes, or any other suitable mobile platform capable of navigating from one point to another on land, water, air, space, etc.

The system 100 also includes one or more uncontrollable vehicles 107a … 107n that lack the ability to be controlled to alleviate traffic congestion or have the ability but are limited or unusable when needed for various reasons (e.g., system errors, power loss, exit settings, etc.). The uncontrollable vehicles 107a … 107n can include one or more responding vehicles 107 communicably coupled to other entities of the system 100 (as reflected by the signal line 143) and one or more non-responding vehicles 107 not communicably coupled to other entities of the system 100. In some cases, the controllable vehicle 103a.. 103n and the uncontrollable vehicle 107a.. 107n may be referred to herein as a vehicle(s).

In fig. 1 and the remaining figures, the letter following a reference number (e.g., "103 a") indicates a reference to the element having that particular reference number. A reference numeral (e.g., "103") in text without a subsequent letter indicates a general reference to an instance of an element bearing that reference numeral. It should be understood that the system 100 depicted in fig. 1 is provided as an example, and that systems 100 and/or further systems contemplated by the present disclosure may include additional and/or fewer components, one or more of the components may be combined and/or divided into additional components, and/or the like. For example, the system 100 may include any number of controllable vehicles 103, uncontrollable vehicles 107, traffic monitoring devices 109, networks 105, or servers 101.

The network 105 may be of a conventional type, wired and/or wireless, and may have many different configurations, including a star configuration, a token ring configuration, or other configurations. For example, network 105 may include one or more Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs) (e.g., the internet), Personal Area Networks (PANs), public networks, private networks, virtual private networks, peer-to-peer networks, near field networks (e.g.,

NFC, etc.), an in-vehicle network, and/or other interconnected data paths through which multiple devices may communicate.

The network 105 may also be coupled to or include portions of a telecommunications network to transmit data in a variety of different communication protocols. Example protocols include, but are not limited to, Transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), secure Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS), dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), real-world streaming over Internet protocol (TCP/IP), real-world streaming over Internet protocol (HTTP-TCP/HTTP-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), real-time transport protocol (RTP) and real-time transport control protocol (RTCP), Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), websocket (ws), Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), various messaging protocols (SMS, MMS, XMS, IMAP, SMTP, POP, WebDAV, etc.), or other suitable protocols. In some embodiments, the network 105 is a wireless network using connections, such as DSRC (dedicated short-range communications), WAVE, 802.11p, 3G, 4G, 5G + networks, WiFi^TMA satellite network, a vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) network, a vehicle-to-infrastructure/infrastructure-to-vehicle (V2I/I2V) network, or any other wireless network. Although fig. 1 illustrates a single block of the network 105 coupled to the server 101, the traffic monitoring device(s) 109, the controllable vehicle(s) 103, and the responding vehicle(s) 107, it should be understood that the network 105 may include a combination of virtually any number of networks, as described above.

The server 101 includes hardware and/or virtual servers including processors, memory, and network communication capabilities (e.g., communication units). As reflected by signal line 145, server 101 may be communicatively coupled to network 105. In some embodiments, the server may send and receive data to and from other entities of the system 100 (e.g., the controllable vehicle(s) 103, the responding vehicle(s) 107, and/or the traffic monitoring device(s) 109). As depicted, the server 101 may include an instance 120a of the traffic mitigation application 120, as discussed further elsewhere herein.

The traffic monitoring device(s) 109a … 109n include hardware and/or virtual devices that include a processor, memory, and network communication capabilities (e.g., communication units). As reflected by the signal line 147, the traffic monitoring device(s) 109 may be communicatively coupled to the network 105. In some embodiments, the traffic monitoring device(s) 109 may be monitoring device(s) installed at higher locations on various segments of a road and/or located at the roadside of the road to monitor traffic on the road and generate traffic data describing the traffic on the road. In some embodiments, the traffic data for the road may include flow rates, vehicle densities, vehicle speeds, etc. associated with various segments of the road at a plurality of timestamps. Other types of traffic data are also possible and are contemplated.

In some embodiments, each traffic monitoring device 109 may monitor a corresponding road segment of the road, generate traffic data for the corresponding road segment, and transmit the traffic data associated with the corresponding road segment as traffic data for the road to other entities of the system 100 (e.g., controllable vehicle(s) 103, server 101, etc.). In some embodiments, the traffic monitoring device 109 may include one or more image sensors (e.g., surveillance cameras) configured to capture images of corresponding road segments within sensor range thereof; and one or more processing units configured to analyze the captured images to generate traffic data associated with the corresponding road segments. As an example, the traffic monitoring device 109 may perform image processing on the captured images to determine the number of vehicles traveling on the respective road segment that passed the traffic monitoring device 109 within a predetermined period of time (e.g., 5 seconds) and calculate the flow velocity associated with the corresponding road segment accordingly. It should be understood that other embodiments for monitoring traffic on a road and generating traffic data for the road are possible and contemplated.

The processor(s) 115 may execute software instructions (e.g., tasks) by performing various input/output, logical, and/or mathematical operations. The processor(s) 115 may have various computing architectures to process data signals. Processor(s) 115 may be physical and/or virtual and may include a single core or multiple processing units and/or cores. In the context of a controllable vehicle 103, the processor may be an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) implemented in the controllable vehicle 103, such as a car, although other types of platforms are possible and contemplated. The ECU may receive the sensor data and store it as vehicle operation data in the vehicle data store 121 for access and/or retrieval by the traffic mitigation application 120. In some implementations, the processor(s) 115 may be capable of generating and providing electronic display signals to input/output device(s), supporting the display of images, generating and transmitting vehicle movement data, performing complex tasks including various types of traffic condition analysis and optimal speed calculations, and the like. In some embodiments, processor(s) 115 may be coupled to memory(s) 117 via bus 154 to access data and instructions therefrom and store data therein. Bus 154 may couple processor(s) 115 to other components of controllable vehicle(s) 103, including, for example, sensor(s) 113, memory(s) 117, communication unit(s) 119, and/or vehicle data store 121.

The traffic mitigation application 120 includes software and/or hardware logic that is executable to resolve traffic congestion and mitigate traffic oscillations. As shown in fig. 1, the server 101 and controllable vehicles 103a … 103n may include

instances

120a and 120b … 120n of the traffic mitigation application 120. In some embodiments, each

instance

120a and 120b … 120n may include one or more components of the traffic mitigation application 120 depicted in fig. 2, and may be configured to perform the functions described herein, in whole or in part, depending on the location in which the instance is located. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation application 120 may be implemented using software executable by one or more processors of one or more computer devices, using hardware (such as, but not limited to, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc.), and/or a combination of hardware and software, among others. The traffic mitigation application 120 may receive and process sensor data, traffic data, vehicle movement data, etc., and communicate with other elements of the controllable vehicle 103 (such as the memory 117, the communication unit 119, the vehicle data store 121, and various actuators and/or actuators, etc.) via the bus 154. For example, the traffic mitigation application 120 may communicate the target mitigation speed to one or more speed actuators of the controllable vehicle 103 to control vehicle movement of the controllable vehicle 103 to mitigate traffic congestion on the road and smooth traffic oscillations. The traffic mitigation application 120 is described in detail below with reference to at least fig. 2-10B.

Memory(s) 117 include non-transitory computer usable (e.g., readable) memoryWritable, etc.) media that may be any tangible, non-transitory apparatus or device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions, data, computer programs, software, code, routines, etc. for processing by the processor(s) 115 or in conjunction with the processor(s) 115. For example, the memory(s) 117 may store the traffic mitigation application 120. In some implementations, the memory(s) 117 may include one or more of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. For example, memory(s) 117 may include, but are not limited to, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices, Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) devices, discrete memory devices (e.g., PROM, FPROM, ROM), hard disk drives, optical disk drives (CD, DVD, Blue-ray)^TMEtc.). It should be understood that memory(s) 117 may be a single device or may include multiple types of devices and configurations.

The communication unit 119 transmits and receives data to and from other computing devices to which it is communicatively coupled (e.g., via the network 105) using wireless and/or wired connections. The communication unit 119 may include one or more wired interfaces and/or wireless transceivers for transmitting and receiving data. The communication unit 119 may be coupled to the network 105 and communicate with other entities of the system 100, such as other controllable vehicle(s) 103, responsive vehicle(s), traffic monitoring device(s) 109, and/or server(s) 101, etc. The communication unit 119 may exchange data with other computing nodes using standard communication methods, such as those discussed above.

Sensor(s) 113 include any type of sensor suitable for controllable vehicle(s) 103. Sensor(s) 113 may be configured to collect any type of signal data suitable for determining characteristics of controllable vehicle 103 and/or its internal and external environments. Non-limiting examples of sensor(s) 113 include various optical sensors (CCD, CMOS, 2D, 3D, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), camera, etc.), audio sensors, motion detection sensors, barometers, altimetersThermocouples, humidity sensors, Infrared (IR) sensors, radar sensors, other photoelectric sensors, gyroscopes, accelerometers, speedometers, steering sensors, brake sensors, switches, vehicle indicator sensors, windshield wiper sensors, geographic position sensors (e.g., GPS (global positioning system) sensors), orientation sensors, wireless transceivers (e.g., cellular, WiFi, etc.)^TMNear field, etc.), sonar sensors, ultrasonic sensors, touch sensors, proximity sensors, distance sensors, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more sensors 113 may include outward facing sensors provided on the front, rear, right, and/or left sides of the controllable vehicle 103 to capture contextual context around the controllable vehicle 103.

In some embodiments, sensor(s) 113 may include one or more image sensors (e.g., optical sensors) configured to record images including video images and still images, may record frames of a video stream using any suitable frame rate, and may encode and/or process video and still images captured using any suitable method. In some embodiments, the image sensor(s) may capture images of the surrounding environment within sensor range thereof. For example, in the context of a vehicle, an image sensor may capture the environment surrounding controllable vehicle 103, including roads, roadside structures, buildings, static road objects (e.g., lanes, road markings, traffic signs, traffic cones, roadblocks, etc.), and/or dynamic road objects (e.g., surrounding controllable vehicle 103 and uncontrollable vehicle 107, road workers, construction vehicles, etc.), and the like. In some embodiments, the image sensor may be mounted on the roof and/or inside the controllable vehicle 103 to sense in any direction (forward, rearward, sideways, upward, downward facing, etc.) relative to the direction of movement of the controllable vehicle 103. In some embodiments, the image sensor may be multi-directional (e.g., LIDAR).

Vehicle data store 121 includes non-transitory storage media that store various types of data. For example, the vehicle data store 121 may store vehicle data communicated between different components of a given controllable vehicle 103 using a bus, such as a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. In some embodiments, the vehicle data may include vehicle operation data collected from a plurality of sensors 113 coupled to different components of the controllable vehicle 103 for monitoring the operating states of these components, e.g., transmission, vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel speed (revolutions per minute-RPM), steering angle, braking force, etc. In some embodiments, the vehicle data may include a plurality of road scene images captured by one or more image sensors of controllable vehicle 103 and image data associated with the images. In some embodiments, these captured images may be processed to determine lane information (e.g., the lane in which controllable vehicle 103 is traveling, etc.) and/or other information of controllable vehicle 103.

In some embodiments, vehicle data store 121 may store vehicle movement data describing vehicle movements of controllable vehicle 103 at a plurality of timestamps. For each timestamp, the vehicle movement data of controllable vehicle 103 may include a vehicle speed at the corresponding timestamp, a vehicle location (e.g., GPS coordinates) indicating a geographic location of controllable vehicle 103, a vehicle lane indicating a lane in which controllable vehicle 103 is traveling, and so forth. Other types of vehicle movement data are also possible and contemplated. In some embodiments, each controllable vehicle 103 may periodically transmit its vehicle movement data to other controllable vehicles 103 within its communication range and responding vehicles 107 and/or to server 101 (e.g., every 2 seconds). Controllable vehicle 103 may also receive vehicle movement data describing other controllable vehicles 103 at the plurality of time stamps and vehicle movements of responding vehicle 107 and store the vehicle movement data for these vehicles in vehicle data store 121.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 121 may store traffic data describing traffic on various segments of the road at a plurality of timestamps. For each segment of the road at each timestamp, the traffic data for the road may include a density of vehicles (e.g., 40 vehicles/kilometer) indicating a number of vehicles present at the respective timestamp over a predefined distance for the segment, a flow rate (e.g., 4000 vehicles/hour) indicating a number of vehicles on the segment that passed a static observation point within a predefined time period at the respective timestamp, a vehicle speed (e.g., 100 kilometers/hour) indicating an average speed of vehicles traveling on the segment at the respective timestamp, and so forth. Other types of traffic data are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 121 may also store traffic metrics indicating various characteristics of traffic flow on the road. In some embodiments, the traffic metrics may include road capacity associated with the road (e.g., 5400 vehicles/hour), capacity vehicle density (e.g., 60 vehicles/kilometer), congestion vehicle density (e.g., 180 vehicles/kilometer), and so forth. Other traffic metrics are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, vehicle data store 121 may store one or more traffic models and one or more vehicle cut-in models corresponding to the one or more traffic models. In some embodiments, the traffic model may describe the flow of traffic on a road and the flow of traffic in one or more open lanes of the road. In some embodiments, the flow of traffic on the road may include one or more flows of traffic, and each flow of traffic may flow through one lane of the road. Similarly, the flow in one or more open lanes of the lane may include one or more flows, and each flow may flow through one open lane of the roadway. In some embodiments, a vehicle cut-in model corresponding to a traffic model may describe the flow of traffic on a road and the flow of traffic in one or more open lanes of the road relative to a controllable vehicle 103 moving at a vehicle speed, thereby describing the cut-in flow beyond this controllable vehicle 103.

In some embodiments, the vehicle data store 121 may store an initial traffic condition map, road characteristics of the road (e.g., speed limit, number of lanes, etc.), road characteristics of one or more open lanes of the road (e.g., number of open lanes, etc.), and/or other types of data for generating a traffic model and/or a vehicle cut-in model. In some embodiments, vehicle data store 121 may also store a target mitigation speed for controlling vehicle movement of one or more controllable vehicles 103 to mitigate traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations.

In some embodiments, vehicle data storage 121 may be part of a data storage system (e.g., a standard data or database management system) for storing and providing access to data. Other types of data stored in the vehicle data storage 121 are possible and contemplated.

Other variations and/or combinations are also possible and contemplated. It should be understood that the system 100 shown in fig. 1 represents an example system, and that a variety of different system environments and configurations are contemplated and are within the scope of the present disclosure. For example, various actions and/or functions may be moved from server to client, and vice versa, data may be integrated into a single data store or further partitioned into additional data stores, and some implementations may include additional or fewer computing devices, services, and/or networks, and may implement various functions on the client or server side. In addition, various entities of the system may be integrated into a single computing device or system, or divided into additional computing devices or systems, and so on.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an example traffic mitigation application 120. As depicted, the traffic mitigation application 120 may include a traffic mitigation initiator 202, a model generator 204, a traffic oscillation analyzer 206, and a target speed calculator 208, but it should be understood that the traffic mitigation application 120 may include additional components such as, but not limited to, a configuration engine, a training engine, an encryption/decryption engine, etc., and/or these various components may be combined into a single engine or divided into additional engines.

The traffic mitigation initiator 202, the model generator 204, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206, and the target speed calculator 208 may be implemented as software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202, the model generator 204, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206, and the target speed calculator 208 may be communicatively coupled to each other and/or other components of the computing device 152 by the bus 154 and/or the processor 115. In some embodiments, one or more of the

components

120, 202, 204, 206, and/or 208 are a set of instructions executable by the processor 115 to provide its functionality. In further embodiments, one or more of 120, 202, 204, 206, and/or 208 may be stored in memory 117 and accessed and executed by processor 115 to provide its functionality. In any of the foregoing embodiments, these

components

120, 202, 204, 206, and/or 208 may be adapted to cooperate and communicate with the processor 115 and other components of the computing device 152. The traffic mitigation application 120 and its

components

202, 204, 206, and 208 are described in more detail below with reference to at least fig. 3-10B.

As discussed elsewhere herein, the traffic mitigation application 120 includes logic executable to determine a target mitigation speed for one or more controllable vehicles 103 to address traffic congestion on the roadway and smooth traffic oscillations. As an example, a general traffic congestion situation 1000 is illustrated in fig. 10A. As shown, fig. 10A depicts a road 1010 that includes a congestion area 1012 where traffic congestion occurs and a traffic movement area 1014 where vehicles may still continue to advance. Traffic movement area 1014 may be located upstream of congestion area 1012 on road 1010 in movement direction 1015. As depicted, road 1010 includes 4 lanes (e.g., lane 1003, lane 1005, lane 1007, lane 1009). Thus, the traffic on road 1010 may include 4 traffic flows, each of which may flow through one lane of road 1010. The roadway 1010 may also be provided with a plurality of traffic monitoring devices 109 positioned along the roadway 1010. As discussed elsewhere herein, the traffic monitoring device 109 may monitor traffic and generate traffic data describing traffic on the road 1010 at a plurality of timestamps.

As shown in fig. 10A, the vehicle may travel in lanes of road 1010 in a direction of movement 1015. In some embodiments, the vehicles traveling on the roadway 1010 may include one or more controllable vehicles 103 and one or more uncontrollable vehicles 107. The controllable vehicles 103 may have the ability of their owners and/or may communicate vehicle movement data, traffic data, etc. to and from other responding entities (e.g., other controllable vehicles 103, responding vehicles 107, traffic monitoring devices 109, servers 101, etc.), may receive or calculate a target mitigation speed, and may adjust their vehicle speed to the target mitigation speed to mitigate traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations.

On the other hand, the uncontrollable vehicle 107 may not be able or able to receive or calculate the target remission speed and adjust its speed to the target remission speed to alleviate traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations. In the present disclosure, the controllable vehicle 103 may be represented by a reference numeral with the prefix "C" (controllable). For example, as shown in FIG. 10A, the vehicles traveling in lane 1005 of road 1010 are a random mix of controllable vehicles C1052, C1050, C1054 and uncontrollable vehicles 107b-107 g. Among these uncontrollable vehicles 107, the

uncontrollable vehicles

107c, 107d, 107g can be responsive vehicles 107 (limited or not used/not needed in terms of control), while the

uncontrollable vehicles

107b, 107e, 107f can be non-responsive vehicles 107.

The vehicle may perform one or more cut-in behaviors as the vehicle travels along the road 1010. For example, a vehicle traveling in one lane may overtake one or more vehicles traveling in the other lanes of lane 1010 due to its higher vehicle speed. The vehicle may also perform a cut-in maneuver to pass one or more vehicles traveling in its current lane. As an example, in the traffic environment depicted in fig. 10A, controllable vehicle C1050 may be traveling at a lower vehicle speed in lane 1005 than other vehicles in other lanes. Thus, an uncontrollable vehicle 107a traveling in the lane 1007 can overtake a controllable vehicle C1050 traveling in the lane 1005. In this example, controllable vehicle C1052 in lane 1005 may perform a cut-in maneuver to pass other vehicles traveling ahead of it in lane 1005. For example, when there is sufficient space in the lane 1007, the controllable vehicle C1052 may perform a lane change maneuver to move from the lane 1005 to the lane 1007, pass the uncontrollable vehicle 107b traveling in the lane 1005 and the controllable vehicle C1050 while the controllable vehicle C1052 is traveling in the lane 1007, and then perform another lane change maneuver to move back from the lane 1007 to the lane 1005. As a result of this cut-in maneuver, controllable vehicle C1052 may travel from a vehicle position behind uncontrollable vehicle 107b in lane 1005 to a vehicle position in front of controllable vehicle C1050 in lane 1005. Alternatively, after passing beyond uncontrollable vehicle 107b and controllable vehicle C1050, controllable vehicle C1052 may continue traveling in lane 1007 or perform another lane change maneuver to move from lane 1007 to a different lane of road 1010 (e.g., lane 1009). In the present disclosure, the passing behavior of a vehicle may refer to any passing action performed by the uncontrollable vehicle 107b and the controllable vehicle C1052 described in the above examples. Other types of cut-in behavior are also possible and contemplated.

Fig. 3 is a flow diagram of an example method 300 for resolving traffic congestion and mitigating traffic oscillations. In block 302, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a first controllable vehicle 103 traveling along a mitigation road segment of the road. In some embodiments, to determine the first controllable vehicle 103 traveling along the mitigation road segment, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the traffic congestion on the road. For example, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may analyze traffic data for a road, determine a congestion area on the road where the flow rate meets a congestion flow rate threshold (e.g., less than 20 vehicles/hour), and thereby determine that traffic congestion exists in the congestion area. In the example depicted in fig. 10A, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the congested area 1012 of the road 1010 is indeed congested. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may also determine the geographic location (e.g., GPS coordinates) of the congested area. The geographic location of the congested area may be referred to as the geographic location of the traffic congestion. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may receive information describing traffic congestion from other entities (e.g., the server 101, the traffic monitoring device 109, etc.).

In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the first controllable vehicle 103 that is located upstream of the traffic congestion, and the first controllable vehicle 103 may cause the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the traffic congestion to satisfy a congestion distance threshold (e.g., greater than 45 meters). In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a plurality of controllable vehicles 103 located upstream of the traffic congestion, the controllable vehicles being a distance from the traffic congestion that satisfies a congestion distance threshold, and randomly select a first controllable vehicle 103 among the plurality of controllable vehicles 103. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the controllable vehicle 103 of the plurality of controllable vehicles 103 that is the smallest distance from the traffic jam and determine this controllable vehicle 103 as the first controllable vehicle 103. Other embodiments for determining the first controllable vehicle 103 are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a mitigation road segment associated with the first controllable vehicle 103. As discussed in detail below, the first controllable vehicle 103 may travel along the mitigation road segment and adjust the flow of traffic flowing through one or more lanes of the mitigation road segment to mitigate traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a mitigation road segment located upstream of the traffic congestion, which may have a predefined coverage area (e.g., 60 meters), where the first controllable vehicle 103 is located at a predefined location relative to the mitigation road segment (e.g., a center point, 20 meters from the start of the mitigation road segment, etc.).

In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a mitigation road segment based on traffic waves on the road. As discussed elsewhere herein, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine one or more traffic waves on the roadway and one or more oscillation periods of the traffic waves. Each oscillation cycle of the traffic wave may include a traffic stop region in which the vehicle cannot move forward and a traffic movement region in which the vehicle can still move forward. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a mitigation road segment that includes the first controllable vehicle 103 therein and that has a mitigation road segment coverage area that includes one or more oscillation cycles of the traffic wave. Other embodiments for determining a mitigation road segment associated with the first controllable vehicle 103 are also possible and contemplated.

Continuing with the example in fig. 10A, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the first controllable vehicle 103 is controllable vehicle C1050 traveling in lane 1005 of road 1010. In this example, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may also determine the mitigation road segment as a mitigation road segment 1020. As depicted in fig. 10A, mitigation road segment 1020 may be located upstream of the traffic congestion in congestion area 1012, and first controllable vehicle C1050 may travel in lane 1005 along mitigation road segment 1020.

In block 304, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a control lane in the mitigation road segment, which may include the first controllable vehicle 103 and may be likely to be obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103. For example, the first controllable vehicle 103 may be controlled to travel in the control lane at a lower vehicle speed than surrounding vehicles in other lanes of the mitigation road segment, as compared to the flow of traffic flowing through other lanes of the road segment, and thus impede the flow of traffic behind the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane. Continuing with the example in fig. 10A, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the control lane as the lane 1005 that includes the first controllable vehicle C1050.

In block 306, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may optionally determine one or more encumberable lanes in the mitigation road segment, which may be different from the control lanes. In some embodiments, to determine an encumberable lane, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the neighboring controllable vehicle(s) 103 located near the first controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment and determine an encumberable lane that includes the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles 103. Thus, similar to the control lane that can be obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103, the obstructed lane may be obstructed by the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 included in the obstructed lane.

In some embodiments, to determine the neighboring controllable vehicle 103, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the controllable vehicle 103 that causes the distance between the controllable vehicle 103 and the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane to satisfy a proximity distance threshold (e.g., less than 5 meters), and determine that this controllable vehicle 103 is the neighboring controllable vehicle 103. Since the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 in the encumberable lane is located near the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane, the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 may be controlled together with the first controllable vehicle 103 to jointly alleviate traffic congestion. This embodiment is particularly advantageous because: since the number of lanes in which the traffic flow is blocked is greater, it can reduce the time required to alleviate traffic congestion. However, it should be appreciated that even if only the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane is controlled to block/regulate the flow of traffic flowing through the control lane, the traffic mitigation application 120 is able to mitigate traffic congestion while the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 in the encumberable lanes 103 are not controlled, and thus the flow of traffic flowing through these encumberable lanes is not impeded.

Continuing with the example in fig. 10A, traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that a distance along direction of movement 1015 of road 1010 between controllable vehicle C1030 and first controllable vehicle C1050 and a distance along direction of movement 1015 between controllable vehicle C1090 and first controllable vehicle C1050 satisfy a proximity distance threshold (e.g., less than 5 meters). Thus, traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine controllable vehicle C1030 and controllable vehicle C1090 as neighboring controllable vehicles 103 located near first controllable vehicle C1050. As shown, adjacent controllable vehicle C1030 may be located downstream of first controllable vehicle C1050, while adjacent controllable vehicle C1090 may be located upstream of first controllable vehicle C1050. In this example, traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine lane 1003 including adjacent controllable vehicle C1030 as a first encumberable lane and lane 1009 including adjacent controllable vehicle C1090 as a second encumberable lane in mitigation road segment 1020.

In block 308, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine one or more open lanes in the mitigation road segment, which may be different from the control lane and the encumberable lane. In some embodiments, the open lane may be directly adjacent or indirectly adjacent to the control lane (e.g., the open lane and the control lane may or may not have other lane(s) located therebetween). In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the neighboring controllable vehicle(s) 103 located near the first controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment as discussed above and determine open lanes that exclude these neighboring controllable vehicle(s) 103. Since the open lane is different from the control lane and does not include the adjacent controllable vehicle 103, the open lane may not be obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103 and the adjacent controllable vehicle 103, and thus traffic flowing through the open lane may not be obstructed in the relief road section. It should be appreciated that the mitigation road segment may include multiple open lanes, and these open lanes may be directly or indirectly adjacent to each other (e.g., two open lanes may or may not have a control lane and/or encumberable lane(s) located therebetween).

Continuing with the example in fig. 10A, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the lane 1007 does not include the first controllable vehicle C1050 or either of an adjacent controllable vehicle C1030 and an adjacent controllable vehicle C1090 that are located near the first controllable vehicle C1050. Thus, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the lane 1007 as an open lane, where the flow of traffic through the lane 1007 may not be impeded. Thus, in this example, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the mitigation road segment 1020 includes a control lane 1005, an encumberable lane 1003, an encumberable lane 1009, and an open lane 1007. The traffic mitigation initiator 202 may also determine that traffic flowing through the control lane 1005 may be obstructed by the first controllable vehicle C1050, traffic flowing through the obstructed lane 1003 may be obstructed by the adjacent controllable vehicle C1030, traffic flowing through the obstructed lane 1009 may be obstructed by the adjacent controllable vehicle C1090, and traffic flowing through the open lane 1007 may be unobstructed.

In block 310, the traffic mitigation application 120 may apply the target mitigation speed to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane. In block 312, if the mitigation road segment includes one or more encumberable lanes, the traffic mitigation application 120 may also apply the target mitigation speed to one or more neighboring controllable vehicles 103 in the one or more encumberable lanes. As discussed in detail below, the target mitigation speed applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 may adjust the flow of traffic flowing through one or more open lanes in the mitigation road segment, thereby mitigating traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment. In some embodiments, the model generator 204, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206, and the target speed calculator 208 may determine the target mitigation speed of the first controllable vehicle 103 based on the traffic state of one or more open lanes and other factors.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an example method 400 for determining a target mitigation speed of a first controllable vehicle 103 in a control lane. It should be appreciated that the method 400 is applicable to determining a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle 103 in various traffic environments, where a mitigation road segment includes at least one open lane and any number of encumberable lanes. In some embodiments, the target mitigation speed applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane may be lower than the speed of other vehicles traveling on the one or more open lanes of the mitigation road segment compared to the flow of traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes, and thus the first controllable vehicle 103 may impede the flow of traffic flowing through the control lane. Similarly, when the target mitigation speed is applied to the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 in the encumberable lane, the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 may also obstruct traffic flowing through the encumberable lane as compared to traffic flowing through one or more open lanes. Thus, vehicles traveling behind the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and behind the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 in the encumberable lane may perform one or more lane changing maneuvers when there is a possibility to move to one or more open lanes. When these vehicles move to one or more open lanes, they may pass the first controllable vehicle 103 traveling in the control lane and/or the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 traveling in the encumberable lane and proceed with faster movement.

In some embodiments, if the mitigation road segment includes a single open lane, the target mitigation speed may increase or maximize an overtaking flow rate at which traffic flowing through the only open lane exceeds the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 when the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 are traveling in their corresponding lanes at the target mitigation speed. If the mitigation road segment includes multiple open lanes, the target mitigation speed may increase or maximize the total cut-in flow rate at which traffic flowing through the multiple open lanes exceeds the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 when the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 is traveling in their respective lanes at the target mitigation speed. This embodiment may advantageously alleviate traffic congestion. For example, to increase or maximize the total cut-in flow rate, the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 may be traveling at a target mitigation speed that is low enough to adequately regulate upstream traffic heading toward traffic congestion. Further, as the total cut-in flow rate increases or maximizes, the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or neighboring controllable vehicles 103 traveling at the target relief speed may restrict upstream traffic heading toward traffic congestion while still allowing a portion of this upstream traffic that may be accommodated by road segments located downstream of the relief road segment to continue forward through one or more open lanes.

In block 402, the model generator 204 may generate a first traffic map associated with a road under unobstructed traffic conditions. Under unobstructed traffic conditions, the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the adjacent controllable vehicles 103 in the one or more encumberable lanes may not be controlled at the target mitigation speed, and thus traffic flowing through the control lane and traffic flowing through the encumberable lanes may not be obstructed on the mitigation road segment. Thus, in an unobstructed traffic condition, traffic flowing by mitigating all lanes of a road in a road segment (e.g., control lane, encumberable lane(s), and open lane (s)) may not be obstructed.

In some embodiments, a first traffic map associated with a road in an unobstructed traffic condition may describe the flow of traffic on the road (and thus on a relief segment of the road) when all lanes of the road are unobstructed. In some embodiments, the first traffic map may indicate a relationship between flow velocity and vehicle density on a road and/or a relationship between vehicle speed and vehicle density on a road in unobstructed traffic conditions. As discussed elsewhere herein, the density of vehicles on the road may indicate the number of vehicles (e.g., 40 cars/km) present at a particular timestamp over a predetermined distance of the road, and the flow rate on the road may indicate the number of vehicles (e.g., 4000 vehicles/hour) traveling on the road that passed the static observation point within a predefined time period at the respective timestamp.

In block 404, the model generator 204 may generate a second traffic map associated with one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition. In a blocked traffic condition, the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the adjacent controllable vehicles 103 in the one or more blockable lanes may be controlled at the target mitigation speed, so the first controllable vehicle 103 may block traffic flowing through the control lane and the adjacent controllable vehicles 103 may block traffic flowing through the one or more blockable lanes in the mitigation road segment. Thus, traffic flowing through the control lane in the mitigation road segment and traffic flowing through the one or more encumberable lanes in the mitigation road segment may be obstructed, while traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes in the mitigation road segment may not be obstructed under unobstructed traffic conditions.

In some embodiments, the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the blocked traffic condition may describe a flow of vehicles in the one or more open lanes of the road when the control lane and the one or more blockable lanes are blocked while the one or more open lanes are not blocked in the relief road segment of the road. In some embodiments, the second traffic map may indicate a relationship between flow velocity and vehicle density in one or more open lanes of the road and/or a relationship between vehicle speed and vehicle density in one or more open lanes of the road under obstructed traffic conditions. Similar to the first traffic map, the density of vehicles in the one or more open lanes of the roadway may indicate a number of vehicles (e.g., 15 vehicles/km) present at a particular timestamp over a predefined distance of the one or more open lanes, and the flow velocity in the one or more open lanes of the roadway may indicate a number of vehicles (e.g., 2700 vehicles/hour) traveling in the one or more open lanes that passed the static observation point within a predefined time period at the respective timestamp.

Fig. 5 is a flow diagram of an example method 500 for generating a traffic model associated with a mitigation road segment of a road, which may include a first traffic map associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition and a second traffic map associated with one or more open lanes in an obstructed traffic condition. In block 502, the model generator 204 may receive traffic data for a road. For example, the model generator 204 may receive traffic data for a road from the traffic monitoring device 109. As discussed elsewhere herein, traffic data for a road may describe traffic on various segments of the road at multiple timestamps. For each segment of the road at each timestamp, the traffic data for the road may include a vehicle density (e.g., 40 vehicles/kilometer), a flow velocity (e.g., 4000 vehicles/hour), a vehicle speed (e.g., 100 kilometers/hour), and the like associated with the segment at the respective timestamp.

In block 504, the model generator 204 may calculate one or more traffic metrics associated with the link based on the traffic data for the link. The traffic metrics associated with a road may indicate various characteristics of the flow of traffic on the road. In some embodiments, the model generator 204 may determine a road traffic capacity (e.g., 5400 vehicles/hour) indicating a maximum flow rate of the road, a traffic capacity vehicle density (e.g., 60 vehicles/kilometer) indicating a vehicle density of the road when the vehicles are traveling on the road at a flow rate equal to the road traffic capacity, a congested vehicle density (e.g., 180 vehicles/kilometer) indicating a vehicle density of the road when the vehicles remain stationary on the road due to traffic congestion, and so on. Other traffic metrics are also possible and contemplated.

In block 506, the model generator 204 may calculate one or more traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes based on the traffic metrics associated with the road and the number of open lanes in the mitigation road segment. The traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes may indicate various characteristics of the flow of traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes of the roadway. In some embodiments, the traffic metric associated with one or more open lanes may be proportional to the number of open lanes in the mitigation road segment. As an example, in the traffic environment depicted in fig. 10A, road 1000 may include 4 lanes and mitigation road segment 1020 may include 1 open lane (e.g., lane 1007) in the 4 lanes. In this example, model generator 204 may determine the road throughput of road 1000 as 5400 vehicles/hour and determine the road throughput of one or more open lanes in road 1000 as 1350 vehicles/hour (e.g., 5400/4).

In block 508, the model generator 204 may determine one or more road characteristics of the road. In some embodiments, the road characteristics of a road may indicate static characteristics (e.g., speed limit, number of lanes, etc.) associated with the road. Model generator 204 may also determine road characteristics of one or more open lanes in the mitigation road segment of the road. Similarly, the road characteristics of the one or more open lanes may indicate static characteristics (e.g., speed limit, number of open lanes, etc.) associated with the one or more open lanes. Continuing with the example in FIG. 10A, the model generator 204 may determine that the road 1010 includes 4 lanes with a speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour. In this example, model generator 204 may also determine that the one or more open lanes in mitigation road segment 1020 of road 1010 includes 1 open lane with a speed limit of 120 kilometers per hour. It should be understood that other road characteristics are possible and contemplated.

In block 510, the model generator 204 may generate a first traffic map associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition based on the initial traffic map, traffic metrics associated with the road, and road characteristics of the road. In some embodiments, model generator 204 may retrieve the initial traffic map from vehicle data store 121. The initial traffic map may be a basic map used to describe the flow of vehicles with one or more relationships between flow rates, vehicle density, vehicle speed, etc. associated with the flow of vehicles. In some embodiments, the model generator 204 may use traffic metrics associated with the road (e.g., road capacity, capacity vehicle density, congestion vehicle density, etc.) and road characteristics of the road (e.g., speed limit, number of lanes, etc.) to adjust one or more map parameters, coefficient values, etc. of the initial traffic map to generate a first traffic map associated with the road in unobstructed traffic conditions. As discussed elsewhere herein, a first traffic map associated with a road in an unobstructed traffic condition may describe the flow of traffic on the road when all lanes of the road are unobstructed. In this disclosure, the first traffic map associated with the roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition may be referred to simply as the first traffic map.

In block 512, the model generator 204 may generate a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition based on the initial traffic map, traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes, and road characteristics of the one or more open lanes. Similar to generating the first traffic map, the model generator 204 may use the traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes and the road characteristics of the one or more open lanes to adjust one or more map parameters, coefficient values, etc. of the initial traffic map to generate a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition. As discussed elsewhere herein, the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition may describe a flow of traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes of the road when the control lane and the one or more obstructable lanes are obstructed while the one or more open lanes are unobstructed in the relief road segment of the road. In this disclosure, the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition may be referred to simply as the second traffic map.

In block 514, the model generator 204 may generate a traffic model associated with the mitigation road segment of the road. The traffic model may include a first traffic map associated with the roadway in unobstructed traffic conditions and a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in obstructed traffic conditions. In some embodiments, the model generator 204 may aggregate the first traffic map and the second traffic map in the same coordinate system to generate the traffic model.

FIG. 9A illustrates an example traffic model 902 associated with a mitigation road segment of a road. As shown, the traffic model 902 may include a first traffic map 912 associated with a road in unobstructed traffic conditions and a second traffic map 914 associated with one or more open lanes in obstructed traffic conditions. As such, the first traffic map 912 may describe the flow of traffic flowing through all lanes of the road when none of the lanes of the road are obstructed under unobstructed traffic conditions. The second traffic map 914 may describe the flow of traffic through one or more open lanes of the road when the control lane is obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103, the one or more obstructed lanes 1003 are obstructed by the adjacent controllable vehicle 103, and the one or more open lanes are unobstructed under unobstructed traffic conditions.

As depicted in fig. 9A, the first traffic map 912 and the second traffic map 914 may describe their respective flows by the relationship between the flow velocity q and the vehicle density ρ associated with the respective flows. In some embodiments, the flow rate q, vehicle density ρ, and vehicle speed ν associated with the flow of vehicles may be related to each other by the following equation 1:

vehicle density ρ is vehicle speed θ [1]

In some embodiments, once the model generator 204 generates a traffic map indicating a relationship between a pair of factors (e.g., flow rate q and vehicle density ρ) of the flow of vehicles, the model generator 204 may derive other traffic maps indicating a relationship between other pairs of factors (e.g., vehicle speed upsilon and vehicle density ρ, vehicle speed upsilon and flow rate q, etc.) of the flow of vehicles from the previously generated traffic maps using equation 1. In the present disclosure, the traffic map may refer to a traffic map indicating a relationship between a flow velocity q of a flow and a vehicle density ρ, a traffic map indicating a relationship between a vehicle speed ν of a flow and a vehicle density ρ, or the like. Other types of traffic patterns are also possible and contemplated.

Referring back to fig. 4, in block 406, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment, which may be located upstream of the first controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment. Fig. 6 is a flow diagram of an example method 600 for determining a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of a mitigation road segment. In some embodiments, a target traffic condition to mitigate an upstream portion of a road segment may be determined based on traffic waves propagating along the road.

In block 602, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine traffic waves on the roadway and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic waves. Traffic waves on roads are often caused by traffic congestion. Non-limiting examples of traffic waves include, but are not limited to, shock waves, rare fractional waves, and the like. As an example of traffic waves, when traffic congestion occurs, vehicles need to stop when they reach a congested area. Therefore, the traffic jam may cause a traffic stop area behind which the vehicle cannot travel forward due to the traffic jam and a traffic movement area in which the vehicle can still travel forward. Since the number of vehicles arriving at the congested area from behind is generally greater than the number of vehicles leaving the congested area from the front, the traffic-stopping area often expands backwards as more upstream vehicles approach the congested area. Therefore, the boundary line between the traffic stop zone and the traffic movement zone is not generally fixed. Instead, the boundary line between the traffic stop area and the traffic movement area generally propagates rearward in the form of a traffic wave (e.g., a shock wave) that propagates along the road in an upstream direction opposite to the moving direction of the vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of an example method 700 for determining traffic waves and propagation parameters of traffic waves on a roadway. In block 702, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may receive vehicle movement data for one or more vehicles located on the roadway at a plurality of timestamps. In some embodiments, the controllable vehicles 103 and/or the responding vehicles 107 may periodically send their vehicle movement data to the server 101 and/or other vehicles within their communication range at predefined intervals (e.g., every 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.) as they travel along the roadway. Thus, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may receive vehicle movement data of the controllable vehicles 103 and/or responsive vehicles 107 located on various segments of the road at a plurality of timestamps. As discussed elsewhere herein, the vehicle movement data for the vehicle at a particular timestamp may include the vehicle location (e.g., GPS coordinates) of the vehicle at the respective timestamp, the vehicle speed, the vehicle lane (e.g., lane number), and the like. Other types of vehicle movement data are also possible and contemplated.

In block 704, for each timestamp, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine a vehicle density distribution associated with the roadway at the corresponding timestamp. The vehicle density distribution may describe a density of vehicles at respective road segments of the road at respective timestamps, and may be determined based on vehicle movement data of vehicles on the road at the respective timestamps and a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions. As discussed elsewhere herein, a first traffic map associated with a roadway under unobstructed traffic conditions may describe the flow of vehicles on the roadway under unobstructed traffic conditions by the relationship between the vehicle speed, ν, and the vehicle density, ρ, associated with the flow of vehicles.

In some embodiments, to generate the timestamp t ═ t₁The traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may analyze vehicle movement data of various vehicles (e.g., the controllable vehicle 103 and/or the responsive vehicle 107) located on the road and determine a vehicle density distribution associated with the road at a time stamp t ═ t₁The vehicle position, the vehicle speed, the vehicle lane, etc. of these vehicles. For each of these vehicles, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine the time stamp t ═ t included in the traffic oscillation₁A segment of the road at the vehicle position of the vehicle, and may be based on the timestamp t ═ t₁Speed v of a vehicle travelling on a section of road₁And determining a relationship between vehicle speed ν and vehicle density ρ associated with a flow on the road indicated by the first traffic map (the first traffic map being associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition, wherein none of the lanes are obstructed) at a time stamp t-t₁Vehicle density p of road section₁. In some embodiments, if the road segment is at the timestamp t ═ t₁Including a plurality of controllable vehicles 103 and/or responsive vehicles 107, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may calculate an average vehicle speed for these vehicles and use the average vehicle speed for these vehicles to determine the timestamp t-t in a similar manner₁Road ofVehicle density ρ₁。

In some embodiments, once it is determined at timestamp t ═ t₁Vehicle density ρ in each section of the road₁The traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine the vehicle density ρ of each road segment₁Aggregate to at timestamp t ═ t₁In a vehicle density distribution associated with the roadway. In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may apply additional processing to make t at the timestamp t ═ t₁The vehicle density distribution associated with the road is smoothed, thereby improving the accuracy thereof.

In block 706, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine traffic waves on the roadway and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic waves. In some embodiments, once the respective time stamp t is determined₁…t_nThe traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may analyze the vehicle density distribution associated with the road at the respective time stamps and determine traffic waves on the road based on the vehicle density distributions. In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may also apply a moving wave model to the vehicle density distribution associated with the road at the respective timestamps to determine propagation parameters of the traffic waves. In some embodiments, the propagation parameter may describe the propagation of traffic waves along a road over time. Non-limiting examples of propagation parameters of traffic waves include, but are not limited to, propagation speed (e.g., 15 kilometers per hour), propagation distance, coverage area of traffic stop area associated with traffic waves, coverage area of traffic movement area associated with traffic waves, and the like. Other propagation parameters of traffic waves are also possible and contemplated.

Referring again to fig. 6, in block 604, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine that at the current timestamp t-t_currentThe vehicle density of the mitigation road segment. In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine that at the current timestamp t ═ t_currentA vehicle (e.g., controllable vehicle 103 or responsive vehicle 107) located in the mitigation road segment. For example, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine the time when from the vehicle movement data of the vehicleThe pre-timestamp t ═ t_currentThe vehicle position, the vehicle speed, the vehicle lane, etc. of the vehicle, and determines the current timestamp t ═ t_currentThe vehicle location of the vehicle is included in the mitigation road segment. The traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may then determine a current timestamp t ═ t based on the current timestamp t_currentThe vehicle speed of the vehicle at (a) and a relation between the vehicle speed v and the vehicle density p associated with the flow on the road indicated by the first traffic map (the first traffic map associated with the road in unobstructed traffic conditions, wherein all lanes are unobstructed) to determine a current timestamp t_currentVehicle density p of the relief section_current. In some embodiments, if the mitigation road segment is at the timestamp t ═ t_currentIncluding a plurality of controllable vehicles 103 and/or responsive vehicles 107, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may calculate an average vehicle speed for these vehicles and use the average vehicle speed for these vehicles in a similar manner to determine the timestamp t_currentVehicle density p of road section of road_current. Continuing with the example in fig. 10A, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may set the current timestamp t to t_currentVehicle density ρ at relief road segment 1020_currentWas determined to be 40/km.

In block 606, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may estimate the timestamp t ═ t in the future_futureThe vehicle density of the mitigation road segment. In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine a future timestamp t ═ t_future＝t_current+Δ_tIn which Δ_tMay be that the current timestamp t ═ t_currentAnd the future time stamp t ═ t_futureA predefined time distance therebetween (e.g., 2s, 5s, 10s, etc.). In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine the current time stamp t ═ t based on the current time stamp t ═ t_currentVehicle density p of road section of road_currentAnd propagation parameters of traffic waves to estimate a future timestamp t ═ t_futureAverage vehicle density p of road section in relief_future. As discussed elsewhere herein, the propagation parameters of traffic waves may describe the propagation of traffic waves along a roadway over time. Continuing with the example in FIG. 10A, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 the mitigation road segment 1020 may be given a future timestamp t ═ t_future＝(t_currentAverage vehicle density ρ at +2s)_futureEstimated to be 60 vehicles/km.

In block 608, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine a future time stamp t ═ t based on_futureAverage vehicle density p of road section in relief_futureTo determine a target traffic condition for an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment. In some embodiments, mitigating the target traffic condition for the upstream portion of the road segment may be a vehicle density equal to a future timestamp t-t_futureAverage vehicle density p of road section in relief_futureSteady state of (c). This embodiment is particularly advantageous because the target mitigation speed determined and applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 based on this target traffic state may transition the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment directly to the target traffic state. Vehicle density due to target traffic conditions may be equal to the future timestamp t ═ t_futureAverage vehicle density p of road section in relief_futureThis embodiment can therefore prevent traffic waves from propagating further upstream on the road, thereby smoothing out traffic oscillations for vehicles located upstream of the relief stretch.

In some embodiments, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may determine a target traffic state that mitigates an upstream portion of a road segment on a first traffic map associated with a road in an unobstructed traffic condition. In particular, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may be based on the future timestamp t ═ t_futureAverage vehicle density p of road section in relief_futureA target traffic condition of an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment is located on the first traffic map. For example, as depicted in fig. 9A, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206 may base its estimated future timestamp t ═ t_futureThe average vehicle density at the mitigation road segment (e.g., 60 vehicles/kilometer) positions the target traffic state a for the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment on the first traffic map 912 associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions.

Referring back to fig. 4, in block 408, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle 103 based on a first traffic map associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition, a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in an obstructed traffic condition, and a target traffic state for an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment. As discussed elsewhere herein, the target mitigation speed may be applied to mitigate the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane of the road segment and/or the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 in the encumberable lane.

In some embodiments, to determine the target mitigation speed, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a tangent line in the traffic model that may include the target traffic state on a first traffic map associated with the roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition and may be tangent to a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in an obstructed traffic condition. For example, as depicted in fig. 9A, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a tangent line 920, which tangent line 920 may include the target traffic state a on the first traffic map 912 and may be tangent to the second traffic map 914. As discussed elsewhere herein, the first traffic map 912 may describe a flow of traffic flowing through all lanes of a road when all lanes of the road are unobstructed in unobstructed traffic conditions. The second traffic map 914 may describe the flow of traffic flowing through one or more open lanes of the roadway when the control lane and the one or more encumberable lanes are obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103 and the adjacent controllable vehicle 103, respectively, and the one or more open lanes are unobstructed under obstructed traffic conditions. The target traffic state a may be a target traffic state that mitigates an upstream portion of the road segment, and may have a time stamp t ═ t in the future_futureVehicle density that mitigates the average vehicle density for the road segment.

In some embodiments, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a starting traffic state of one or more open lanes on the second traffic map based on the tangent. The starting traffic state of the one or more open lanes may indicate the traffic state of the one or more open lanes under the blocked traffic condition at the start of the mitigation process and may be used to determine a target mitigation speed to apply to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 in the blockable lane to perform the mitigation.

As depicted in fig. 9A, to determine the starting traffic state of the one or more open lanes, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a tangent point 922 where the tangent 920 is tangent to a second traffic map 914 associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition and determine the starting traffic state B of the one or more open lanes as the tangent point 922. Alternatively, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a proximity B associated with the tangent point 922 on the second traffic map 914₁B₂The proximity range B₁B₂May have a predefined size (e.g., as indicated by distance 924) and may include a plurality of traffic states on the second traffic map 914 adjacent to the tangent point 922. The target speed calculator 208 may then calculate the target speed from the proximity B on the second traffic map 914₁B₂Randomly determining a starting traffic state B for one or more open lanes. Other embodiments for determining the starting traffic state of one or more open lanes are also possible and contemplated.

In some embodiments, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a state transition line in the traffic model. As depicted in fig. 9A, the target speed calculator 208 may determine a state transition line AB that includes an initial traffic state B of one or more open lanes on a second traffic map 914 (the second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition) and a target traffic state a of an upstream portion of a relief road segment on a first traffic map 912 (the first traffic map associated with the road in the unobstructed traffic condition). As depicted in fig. 9A, if the target speed calculator 208 determines that the starting traffic state B of the one or more open lanes is a tangent point 922 where the tangent 920 is tangent to the second traffic map 914, the state transition line AB and the tangent 920 may coincide, and the state transition line AB may be tangent to the second traffic map 914 at the starting traffic state B. On the other hand, if the target speed calculator 208 determines that it is from the proximity range B₁B₂One or more open lanes of traffic state B and tangent point 922, then the state transition line AB may be substantially tangent to the second traffic map 914.

In some embodiments, the target speed calculator 208 may determine the target mitigation speed of the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 based on the state transition line AB. In particular, the target speed calculator 208 may apply a target mitigation speed to the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicles 103

As depicted in FIG. 9A, the slope of the state transition line AB may be a tangent of the angle α, thus the target rate of mitigation

May be equal to Tan (α). in some embodiments, the target mitigation speed

May be below the speed limit of the road and is generally below the speed at which surrounding vehicles travel on the road.

As discussed above, the state transition line AB may include a starting traffic state B of the one or more open lanes in the obstructed traffic condition, which may indicate a traffic state of the one or more open lanes when the control lane and the one or more obstructed lanes are obstructed by the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicle 103, respectively, at the start of the mitigation process. The state transition line AB may also include a target traffic state a at an upstream portion of the relief road segment in an unobstructed traffic condition. Thus, when the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 are in their respective lanes at the target mitigation speed equal to the slope of the state transition line AB

While traveling, the starting traffic state B may be transitioned to achieve the target traffic state a. Therefore, the upstream portion of the relief link may transition to the target traffic state a. As discussed elsewhere herein, target trafficState a may have a timestamp t equal to t in the future_futureVehicle density that mitigates the average vehicle density of road segments 1020. Therefore, when the upstream portion of the relief link 1020 transitions to the target traffic state a, the traffic wave can be prevented from further propagating upstream of the road.

Further, if the mitigation road segment includes a single (e.g., only one) open lane, then when the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 are in their respective lanes at the target mitigation speed equal to the slope of the state transition line AB

While traveling, the flow of traffic flowing through the only open lane may be maximized beyond the flow rate of passing by the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or neighboring controllable vehicles 103 traveling in its corresponding lane, given the target traffic state a that needs to be achieved. If the mitigation road segment includes multiple open lanes, then when the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 are in their respective lanes at the target mitigation speed equal to the slope of the state transition line AB

While traveling, given the target traffic state a that needs to be achieved, the total flow rate of overtaking that flows through the plurality of open lanes beyond the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or neighboring controllable vehicles 103 traveling in its corresponding lane may be maximized. This advantageous effect is described in detail below with reference to fig. 9B.

FIG. 9B illustrates an example vehicle cut-in model 904 associated with a mitigation road segment of a road, the vehicle cut-in model 904 may be generated based on a traffic model 902 associated with the mitigation road segment of the road. As discussed elsewhere herein, the traffic model 902 may include a traffic map describing the relationship between the flow velocity q and the vehicle density ρ for various flows, each of which may flow through one or more particular lanes under particular traffic conditions. For example, the second traffic map 914 in the traffic model 902 may describe a relationship between the flow velocity q and the vehicle density ρ of a flow of traffic flowing through one or more open lanes of the road under obstructed traffic conditions. In some embodiments, the vehicle passing model 904 may include corresponding cut-in maps that describe the relationship between cut-in flow rate q and vehicle density ρ for these flows.

In some embodiments, the flow rate q of the flow of traffic flowing through the particular lane(s) may indicate the number of vehicles traveling in the particular lane(s) that passed the static viewpoint within a predefined period of time. On the other hand, the overtaking flow rate q of the same traffic flow can indicate the observer speed upsilon when the dynamic observation point is in the observer speed upsilon₀The number of vehicles traveling on these particular lane(s) that pass the dynamic point of view while traveling. In some embodiments, the flow rate q and the overtaking flow rate q of the same flow may be related to each other by the following equation 2:

passing flow rate q ═ flow rate q-observer velocity upsilon₀Vehicle density rho 2]

Thus, in some embodiments, model generator 204 may use equation 2 and observer velocity upsilon for dynamic viewpoints₀A cut-in map of the vehicle cut-in model 904 is derived from a corresponding traffic map of the traffic model 902. An example of a dynamic point of view may be that the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 have a vehicle speed υ ═ υ₀Travel in its corresponding lane.

According to equation 2, if the first controllable vehicle 103 and the adjacent controllable vehicle 103 are travelling in their respective lanes with a vehicle speed υ 0, the observer speed υ ₀0 and the overtaking flow rate q ═ flow rate q. Thus, as depicted in fig. 9B, for the case where the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 are traveling in their corresponding lanes with a vehicle speed v of 0, the model generator 204 may consider the first traffic map 912 and the second traffic map 914 in the traffic model 902 as corresponding cut-in maps in the vehicle cut-in model 904. In some embodiments, if the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 are at the target mitigation speed

Travelling in its corresponding lane, the observer velocity u₀Target mitigation speed

As depicted in FIG. 9B, the target mitigation speeds are for the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103

In the context of traveling in its corresponding lane, the model generator 204 may generate a first cut-in map 932 corresponding to the first traffic map 912 and generate a second cut-in map 934 corresponding to the second traffic map 914. According to equation 2, the first passing map 932 may be related to the first traffic map 912 and the second passing map 934 may be related to the second traffic map 914 by the following equation 3:

q*＝q-Tan(α)*ρ [3]

from equation 3, the overtaking flow rate corresponding to the initial traffic state B can be determined as follows

And a passing flow rate corresponding to the target traffic state A

As indicated in the expression 4,

thus, the target mitigation speeds are provided for the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103

In the context of traveling in its corresponding lane, the originating traffic state B located on the second traffic map 914 may be compared to the originating traffic state B located on the second passing map 934₁And (7) corresponding. Similarly, as indicated in expression 5,

thus with a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103

In the context of driving on its corresponding lane, the target traffic state a on the first traffic map 912 may be the same as the target traffic state a on the first cut-in map 932₁And (7) corresponding.

As indicated by expressions 4 and 5, the target mitigation speeds applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 due to the state transition line AB being tangent to the second traffic map 914 at the initial traffic state B

Equal to the slope of the state transition line AB (e.g., Tan (α)), and thus located at the initial traffic state B on the second passing graph 934₁And a target traffic state A on a first cut-in map 932₁Can have the same overtaking flow rate

And

as depicted in fig. 9B. Thus, as depicted in FIG. 9B, the initial traffic state B on the second cut-in map 934₁And a target traffic state A on a first cut-in map 932₁Can belong to the overtaking flow velocity

Corresponding to the same horizontal line.

In some embodiments, if the mitigation road segment includes a single open lane, then the initial traffic state B is initiated₁The passing flow rate at which the flow of traffic flowing through the only open lane exceeds the target mitigation speed may be indicated

The first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 traveling on its corresponding lane. If the mitigation road segment includes multiple open lanes, then the initial traffic state B₁A total overtaking flow rate at which traffic flowing through the plurality of open lanes exceeds a target mitigation speed may be indicated

The first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 traveling on its corresponding lane. Thus, as depicted in FIG. 9B, the initial traffic state B due to being on the second cut-in map 934₁And a target traffic state A on a first cut-in map 932₁Belonging to and overtaking flow velocity

Corresponding to the same horizontal line, thus giving a target traffic state a corresponding to the target traffic state a to be achieved₁From the initial traffic state B₁The indicated maximum flow rate or total cut-in flow rate is maximized. Thus, when the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 is/are at the target mitigation speed

While traveling in their corresponding lanes, these controllable vehicles 103 may obstruct the flow of traffic in their corresponding lanes to maximize the number of vehicles passing over them through one or more open lanes as permitted by the target traffic state a to be achieved.

As depicted in fig. 9B, the target speed calculator 208 may determine the starting traffic state B as tangent point 922 of tangent line 920,and thus the state transition line AB may be tangent to the second traffic map 914 in the vehicle passing model 904 at the initial traffic state B. As discussed above, this embodiment may be such as to initiate traffic state B₁The indicated overtaking flow rate or total overtaking flow rate of traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes is maximized. As discussed elsewhere herein, target velocity calculator 208 may be from a proximity B associated with tangent point 922₁B₂The starting traffic state B is determined so that the state transition line AB may be substantially tangent to the second traffic map 914. While this embodiment may not maximize the passing/total passing flow rate of traffic flowing through one or more open lanes, it may increase the passing/total passing flow rate to a value close to the maximum of the passing/total passing flow rate given target traffic state a (e.g., depending on proximity range B)₁B₂A difference between the two values may satisfy a threshold difference).

In some embodiments, the target speed calculator 208 may transition the state corresponding to the state transition line AB to a state transition line a₁B₁The intersection with the first cut-in map 932 is determined as the resulting traffic state C. Thus, when the first controllable vehicle 103 and/or the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 is/are at the target mitigation speed

While traveling in its corresponding lane, the upstream portion of the relief road segment may transition to a target traffic state A corresponding to the target traffic state A₁While a road segment downstream of the mitigation road segment but upstream of the traffic congestion (also referred to herein simply as a downstream road segment) may transition to the resulting traffic state C. As indicated on the first overtaking map 932, the resulting traffic state C achieved in the downstream road segment may have the same overtaking flow rate/total overtaking flow rate

But with mitigation of target traffic state a achieved in the upstream portion of the road segment₁In contrast, with a lower vehicle density ρ. As a result, the traffic state C achieved in the downstream link brings forward shock waves, in which a traffic region having a lower vehicle density ρ than an upstream portion of the relief link propagates forward along the lane toward traffic congestion, and thus the traffic congestion can be relieved.

Fig. 10B illustrates an example 1002 of traffic flows on a road 1010 adjusted to alleviate the traffic congestion condition 1000 depicted in fig. 10A. As discussed elsewhere herein, in this example, the target mitigation speed

May be applied to mitigate a first controllable vehicle C1050 traveling in control lane 1005, an adjacent controllable vehicle C1030 traveling in encumberable lane 1003, and an adjacent controllable vehicle C1090 traveling in encumberable lane 1009 in road segment 1020. As discussed elsewhere herein, target mitigation rates

May be below the speed limit of road 1010 (e.g., 120 km/h) and is generally below the speed of other vehicles around controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090. Thus, when the first controllable vehicle C1050, the neighboring controllable vehicle C1030, and the neighboring controllable vehicle C1090 are at the target mitigation speed

When traveling in their corresponding lanes, they may block traffic in control lane 1005, encumberable lane 1003, encumberable lane 1009, respectively.

In this example, because traffic flow in control lane 1005, encumberable lane 1003, encumberable lane 1009 is obstructed, other vehicles traveling behind first controllable vehicle C1050, adjacent controllable vehicle C1030, adjacent controllable vehicle C1090 in control lane 1005, encumberable lane 1003, encumberable lane 1009 may likely be able to perform one or more lane-change maneuvers to move faster when there is a possibility of moving to open lane 1007, as indicated by lane-change flow 1040. As discussed elsewhere herein,target mitigation speeds applied to controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090 given a target traffic condition to be achieved at an upstream portion of mitigation road segment 1020

The overtaking flow rate at which the flow through the open lane flow 1007 exceeds the controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090 may be maximized (or increased to a value near the maximum value of the overtaking flow rate). Thus, controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090 may impede traffic flow in their respective lanes to restrict upstream traffic traveling toward congested area 1012, while still allowing a portion of this upstream traffic that may be accommodated by downstream road segment 1022 to continue traveling through open lane 1007 to achieve mitigation of the target traffic condition in the upstream portion of road segment 1020.

As depicted in fig. 10B, once vehicles traveling on the open lane 1007 pass controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, and C1090, these vehicles may perform one or more lane-change maneuvers while possibly moving from the open lane 1007 to other lanes in the downstream road segment 1022, as indicated by a lane-change flow 1042. Since the flow of traffic in the control lane 1005, the encumberable lane 1003, the encumberable lane 1009 is obstructed and only a limited portion of the upstream traffic may reach the downstream road segment 1022 through the open lane 1007, the downstream road segment 1022 may have a lower vehicle density ρ than the upstream portion of the relief road segment 1020. Thus, since traffic approaching congestion area 1012 from behind has a reduced vehicle density ρ, and some vehicles may leave congestion area 1012 from ahead, traffic congestion in congestion area 1012 may be alleviated and ultimately fully resolved.

Further, as discussed above, at a target rate of mitigation

The driving controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090 may allow a portion of the upstream traffic to travel forward through the open lane 1007 to achieve a target traffic state in the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment 1020. As discussed elsewhere herein,the target traffic state may be a steady state where the vehicle density is equal to the average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the future timestamp. Since a target traffic state in which the vehicle density is equal to the average vehicle density of the relief section at the future time stamp is achieved at the upstream portion of the relief section 1020, it is possible to prevent traffic waves caused by traffic congestion from propagating further upstream of the road 1010. Thus, the target mitigation speed determined by the traffic mitigation application 120

When applied to controllable vehicles C1050, C1030, C1090, traffic congestion downstream of relief road segment 1020 may be resolved, and vehicles upstream of relief road segment 1020 may also be prevented from being affected by traffic oscillations caused by traffic wave propagation.

In some embodiments, once the target speed calculator 208 determines the target mitigation speed

(e.g., 70 km/h) to slow the target away

Applied to control a first controllable vehicle 103 in a lane and a neighboring controllable vehicle 103 in one or more encumberable lanes, the traffic mitigation application 120 may provide a speed including a target mitigation speed to the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicle 103

Traffic mitigation instructions. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation application 120 may generate and display to the driver via one or more output devices of the controllable vehicles 103a display including the target mitigation speed

The bootstrap message of (2). For example, the traffic mitigation application 120 may display a dynamic graphical map on the touch screen of the first controllable vehicle 103 that represents the vehicle location and on the road of the first controllable vehicle 103Traffic congestion and guidance messages (e.g., "please adjust vehicle speed to 70 km/h to help alleviate traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations"). Alternatively, the guidance message may be provided in the form of voice instructions for the driver of the first controllable vehicle 103 to follow and adjust the vehicle speed of the first controllable vehicle 103 accordingly.

In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation application 120 may mitigate the target speed

(e.g., 70 km/h) to the control units (e.g., ECUs) of the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103. The control unit may actuate the speed actuators of the controllable vehicles 103 to adjust the vehicle speed of the controllable vehicles 103 to the target mitigation speed

Thus, the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicle 103 may automatically adapt their vehicle speeds to the target mitigation speed

Thereby alleviating traffic congestion and traffic oscillations on the road.

As discussed above, the traffic mitigation application 120 may mitigate the target speed

Applied to mitigate the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 in the road segment. From the perspective of the first controllable vehicle 103 or an adjacent controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment, the mitigation road segment may include the same number of control lanes, encumberable lanes, and open lanes because the same set of controllable vehicles 103 are located close to each other in the mitigation road segment. Thus, the traffic models 902 generated for the first controllable vehicle 103 and for each neighboring controllable vehicle 103 (which include the first traffic map 912 associated with the road in unobstructed traffic conditions and the second traffic map 914 associated with the one or more open lanes in obstructed traffic conditions) may be completely complete with each otherThe same, and therefore the target mitigation speeds determined for the first controllable vehicle 103 and for the neighboring controllable vehicles 103

May have the same value. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation application 120 may determine a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle 103

Then the target is released

Applied to mitigate the first controllable vehicle 103 and the neighboring controllable vehicles 103 in the road segment.

In some embodiments, to expedite the mitigation of traffic congestion and/or traffic oscillations on the road, the traffic mitigation application 120 may delay controlling the speed of the first controllable vehicle 103 until there is neighboring controllable vehicle(s) 103 located adjacent to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment. This embodiment is discussed in detail below with reference to fig. 8. However, it should be appreciated that the traffic mitigation application 120 is capable of using a single controllable vehicle 103 to mitigate traffic congestion and/or traffic oscillations through the embodiments discussed above.

Fig. 8 is a flow chart of an example method 800 for resolving traffic congestion and mitigating traffic oscillations. In block 802, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a first controllable vehicle 103 and a second controllable vehicle 103 traveling along a mitigation road segment of the road. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine the first controllable vehicle 103 and the mitigation road segment in a manner similar to determining the first controllable vehicle 103 traveling along the mitigation road segment as discussed above with reference to fig. 3. The mitigation initiator 202 may then determine other controllable vehicles 103 traveling along the mitigation road segment and determine that the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the other controllable vehicles 103 does not satisfy the proximity distance threshold (e.g., less than 5 meters). Thus, the mitigation initiator 202 may determine that there is no neighboring controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment that is currently located near the first controllable vehicle 103.

In some embodiments, to determine the second controllable vehicle 103, the mitigation initiator 202 may determine candidate controllable vehicles 103 traveling along the mitigation road segment, the distance between the candidate controllable vehicle 103 and the first controllable vehicle 103 satisfying an initial vehicle distance threshold (e.g., greater than 5 meters and less than 20 meters), and randomly select the second controllable vehicle 103 from among the candidate controllable vehicles 103. In some embodiments, the mitigation initiator 202 may select, among the candidate controllable vehicles 103, the candidate controllable vehicle 103 having the smallest distance between the candidate controllable vehicle 103 and the first controllable vehicle 103 as the second controllable vehicle 103. In some embodiments, if the mitigation initiator 202 determines that the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 traveling on the mitigation road segment and the other controllable vehicles 103 does not satisfy the initial vehicle distance threshold, the mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the controllable vehicles 103 are far from each other. In this case, the traffic mitigation application 120 may individually control the speed of these controllable vehicles 103 to mitigate traffic congestion and traffic oscillations on the road.

In block 804, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may monitor the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103. In block 806, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that t ═ t at the current timestamp t_currentWhether the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103 meets an approach distance threshold (e.g., less than 5 meters). If the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103 does not meet the proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp, the method 800 proceeds to block 804 to continue monitoring the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103. If the distance between the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103 meets the proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine that the second controllable vehicle 103 is a neighboring controllable vehicle 103 associated with the first controllable vehicle 103. The method 800 may then proceed to block 806 to begin the mitigation process. In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine a plurality of second controllable vehicles 103 and traffic is transmitted when the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicles 103 are proximate to each otherThe mitigation application 120 may begin the mitigation process.

In some embodiments, the traffic mitigation application 120 may utilize a first controllable vehicle 103 and a second controllable vehicle(s) 103 that are proximate controllable vehicle(s) 103 to perform a mitigation process. This mitigation process may be performed in a manner similar to the mitigation process discussed above with reference to fig. 3-7. For example, in block 808, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine control lanes and encumberable lanes in the mitigation road segment. The control lane may include the first controllable vehicle 103 and may be encumbered by the first controllable vehicle 103. The encumberable lane(s) may include the second controllable vehicle(s) 103 and may be encumberable by the second controllable vehicle(s) 103. In block 810, the traffic mitigation initiator 202 may determine one or more open lanes in the mitigation road segment. In an example, one or more open lanes may be adjacent (e.g., directly adjacent or indirectly adjacent) to a control lane. In some embodiments, the one or more open lanes may exclude the first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle(s) 103, so traffic flowing through the one or more open lanes may not be impeded.

In block 812, the traffic mitigation application 120 may apply the target mitigation speed to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the second controllable vehicle(s) 103 in the encumberable lane(s). As discussed elsewhere herein, the model generator 204, the traffic oscillation analyzer 206, and the target speed calculator 208 may determine a target mitigation speed of the first controllable vehicle 103 based on the traffic state of one or more open lanes (e.g., the start traffic state B) and the target traffic state of the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment (e.g., the target traffic state a). If the relief road segment includes a single open lane, the target relief speed applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the second controllable vehicle(s) 103 in the encumberable lane(s) may adjust the flow of traffic flowing through the open lane of the relief road segment only to relieve traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations. If the relief road segment includes multiple open lanes, the target relief speed applied to the first controllable vehicle 103 in the control lane and the second controllable vehicle(s) 103 in the encumberable lane(s) may adjust the flow of traffic flowing through the multiple open lanes of the relief road segment to relieve traffic congestion and smooth traffic oscillations.

Thus, as discussed above, the traffic mitigation application 120 may delay controlling the speed of the controllable vehicle 103 in the mitigation road segment until there are multiple controllable vehicles 103 in proximity to each other to pass 103 through the controllable vehicles while blocking multiple lanes in the mitigation road segment. This embodiment is particularly advantageous as it may accelerate the mitigation of traffic congestion and traffic oscillations on the road. In particular, since multiple lanes in the easement section are simultaneously obstructed by multiple controllable vehicles 103, the number of open lanes in the easement section may be limited, and thus the flow rate of traffic flowing through these open lanes may be reduced. As discussed elsewhere herein, the flow rate of the flow of traffic flowing through the open lane may be indicated by the second traffic map 914 in fig. 9A. As the flow rate of the traffic flowing through the open lane decreases, the slope of the state transition line AB may increase, and thus the target alleviation speed

May be increased. Thus, the target mitigation speed is applied thereto

The first controllable vehicle 103 and the second controllable vehicle 103 may be traveling at higher vehicle speeds during the mitigation process, thereby reducing the amount of time required to mitigate traffic congestion and traffic oscillations.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it is understood that the techniques described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In addition, various systems, devices, and structures are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description. For example, various implementations are described as having particular hardware, software, and user interfaces. However, the present disclosure is applicable to any type of computing device that can receive data and commands, and any peripheral device that provides services.

In some cases, various implementations may be presented herein in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. An algorithm is here, and generally, considered to be a self-consistent set of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It has proven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present disclosure, discussions utilizing terms including "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "displaying," or the like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms physical, electronic data within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

Various implementations described herein may relate to an apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, including, but is not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD ROMs, and magnetic disks, read-only memories (ROMs), Random Access Memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, flash memory including USB keys with non-volatile memory, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and each coupled to a computer system bus.

The techniques described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware implementation, an entirely software implementation or an implementation containing both hardware and software elements. For example, the techniques may be implemented in software, which includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software, microcode, and the like. Furthermore, the techniques may take the form of a computer program product accessible from a computer-usable or computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer readable medium can be any non-transitory storage device that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing program code will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can include local memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from bulk storage during execution. Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.

Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems, storage devices, remote printers, and/or the like, through intervening private and/or public networks. Wireless (e.g., Wi-Fi)^TM) Transceivers, ethernet adapters, and modems are just a few examples of network adapters. Private and public networks may have any number of configurations and/or topologies. Data may be transmitted between these devices via a network using a variety of different communication protocols, including, for example, various internet layer, transport layer, or application layer protocols. For example, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TC) may be usedP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPs), dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), real-time streaming protocol (RTSP), real-time transport protocol (RTP), and real-time transport control protocol (RTCP), Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), websocket (ws), Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), various messaging protocols (SMS, MMS, XMS, IMAP, SMTP, POP, WebDAV, etc.), or other known protocols.

Finally, the structures, algorithms, and/or interfaces presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method blocks. The required structure for a variety of these systems will appear from the description above. In addition, the present specification is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the specification as described herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the specification to the precise form disclosed. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. It is intended that the scope of the disclosure be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims of the application. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the present description may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. Likewise, the particular naming and division of the modules, routines, features, attributes, methodologies and other aspects are not mandatory or significant, and the mechanisms that implement the specification or its features may have different names, divisions and/or formats.

Furthermore, the modules, routines, features, attributes, methodologies and other aspects of the disclosure may be implemented as software, hardware, firmware or any combination of the preceding. Moreover, wherever any of the components of the specification (examples of which are modules) are implemented as software, the components may be implemented as stand-alone programs, as part of a larger program, as multiple separate programs, as statically or dynamically linked libraries, as kernel loadable modules, as device drivers, and/or in each and any other manner known now or in the future. Moreover, the present disclosure is in no way limited to any specific programming language or implementation for any specific operating system or environment.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

determining a first controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road;

determining a control lane in the mitigation road segment, the control lane including and being encumberable by the first controllable vehicle;

determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment, the first open lane adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment; and

a target speed of mitigation is applied to the first controllable vehicle in the control lane, the target speed of mitigation being based on a traffic state of the first open lane, the target speed of mitigation adjusting a flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the target mitigation speed increases the flow of traffic flowing through the first open lane beyond a cut-in flow rate of the first controllable vehicle traveling in the control lane at the target mitigation speed.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, further comprising:

determining a second open lane in the mitigation road segment; and wherein

The target mitigation speed maximizes a total cut-in flow rate of traffic flowing through the first open lane and traffic flowing through the second open lane over the first controllable vehicle traveling in the control lane at the target mitigation speed.

4. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein determining a first open lane in a mitigation road segment comprises:

determining one or more neighboring controllable vehicles in proximity to the first controllable vehicle in the mitigation road segment; and

determining a first open lane in the mitigation road segment that does not include the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles and that cannot be obstructed by the one or more neighboring controllable vehicles.

5. The method of any of claims 1-2, further comprising:

determining a neighboring controllable vehicle located near the first controllable vehicle in the mitigation road segment;

determining to mitigate an encumberable lane in the road segment, the encumberable lane including and being encumberable by the adjacent controllable vehicle; and

the target mitigation speed is applied to adjacent controllable vehicles in the encumberable lane.

6. The method of any of claims 1-2, further comprising:

determining one or more open lanes and one or more encumberable lanes in a mitigation road segment, the one or more open lanes including a first open lane;

generating a first traffic map associated with the road under unobstructed traffic conditions, mitigating that the control lane and the one or more encumberable lanes in the road segment are unobstructed under unobstructed traffic conditions;

generating a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions, the control lanes and the one or more obstructed lanes in the mitigation road segment being obstructed under obstructed traffic conditions;

determining a target traffic state for an upstream portion of a relief road segment, the upstream portion of the relief road segment being upstream of the first controllable vehicle; and

a target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle is determined based on a first traffic map associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition, a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in a obstructed traffic condition, and a target traffic state of an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating a first traffic map associated with a roadway in unobstructed traffic conditions comprises:

monitoring traffic data of the road;

calculating one or more traffic metrics associated with the road based on the traffic data for the road;

determining one or more road characteristics of a road;

generating a first traffic map associated with a road under unobstructed traffic conditions based on an initial traffic map, the one or more traffic metrics associated with the road, and the one or more road characteristics of the road; and wherein

The first traffic map indicates a relationship between a flow speed on a road and a vehicle density or a relationship between a vehicle speed on the road and the vehicle density in an unobstructed traffic condition.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein

The traffic data for the road includes one or more of a flow rate, a vehicle density, and a vehicle speed associated with a plurality of segments of the road at a plurality of timestamps;

the one or more traffic metrics associated with a road include one or more of road capacity, capacity vehicle density corresponding to road capacity, and congestion vehicle density associated with a road; and

the one or more road characteristics of the road include one or more of a speed limit and a number of lanes associated with the road.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein generating a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in a blocked traffic condition comprises:

monitoring traffic data of the road;

calculating one or more traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes based on a traffic volume associated with the road and a number of open lanes in the mitigation road segment;

determining one or more road characteristics of the one or more open lanes;

generating a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in a blocked traffic condition based on an initial traffic map, the one or more traffic metrics associated with the one or more open lanes, and the one or more road characteristics of the one or more open lanes; and wherein

The second traffic map indicates a relationship between flow velocity in the one or more open lanes and vehicle density or a relationship between vehicle speed in the one or more open lanes and vehicle density under obstructed traffic conditions.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the target traffic condition for the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment comprises:

determining a traffic wave on a road and one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave;

determining a vehicle density for the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp;

estimating an average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at a future timestamp based on the vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp and the one or more propagation parameters of the traffic waves; and

a target traffic state for an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment is determined based on the average vehicle density for the mitigation road segment at the future timestamp.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining traffic waves on the roadway and the one or more propagation parameters of the traffic waves comprises:

receiving vehicle movement data for one or more vehicles located on a roadway at a plurality of timestamps;

determining a plurality of vehicle density distributions associated with the roadway at the plurality of timestamps based on the vehicle movement data of the one or more vehicles located on the roadway at the plurality of timestamps and a first traffic map associated with the roadway under unobstructed traffic conditions; and

determining a traffic wave on the road and the one or more propagation parameters for the traffic wave based on the plurality of vehicle density distributions associated with the road at the plurality of timestamps.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein

The vehicle movement data of the one or more vehicles located on the road at the plurality of timestamps includes one or more of a vehicle position, a vehicle speed, and a vehicle lane of a vehicle among the one or more vehicles at a respective timestamp among the plurality of timestamps; and

the one or more propagation parameters of the traffic wave include one or more of a propagation speed, a propagation distance, a coverage area of a traffic stopping area associated with the traffic wave, and a coverage area of a traffic moving area associated with the traffic wave.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp comprises:

receiving vehicle movement data for the vehicle, the vehicle movement data including a vehicle speed of the vehicle at a vehicle location in the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp; and

the vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at the current timestamp is determined based on a vehicle speed of the vehicle at the current timestamp and a first traffic map associated with the road in an unobstructed traffic condition.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the target traffic condition for the upstream portion of the mitigation road segment comprises:

determining a target traffic condition on a first traffic map associated with a road under unobstructed traffic conditions based on an average vehicle density of mitigation road segments at future timestamps, and wherein

The target speed of mitigation transitions an upstream portion of the mitigation road segment to a target traffic state having an average vehicle density of the mitigation road segment at a future timestamp.

15. The method of claim 6, wherein determining the target mitigation speed for the first controllable vehicle comprises:

determining a tangent line that includes a target traffic state on a first traffic map associated with a roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition and that is tangent to a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in an obstructed traffic condition;

determining a starting traffic state of the one or more open lanes on a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes under obstructed traffic conditions based on the tangent line, the traffic state of the first open lane being the starting traffic state of the one or more open lanes; and

a target mitigation speed of the first controllable vehicle is determined based on a slope of a state transition line that includes an initial traffic state on a second traffic map associated with the one or more open lanes in a blocked traffic condition and a target traffic state on a first traffic map associated with the roadway in an unobstructed traffic condition.

16. A system, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more memories storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to:

17. A method, comprising:

determining a first controllable vehicle and a second controllable vehicle traveling along a mitigation road segment of a road;

monitoring a distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle;

determining that a distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle satisfies a proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp;

in response to determining that the distance between the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle satisfies the proximity distance threshold at the current timestamp, determining to mitigate a control lane and an encumberable lane in the road segment, the control lane including the first controllable vehicle and being encumbered by the first controllable vehicle, the encumberable lane including the second controllable vehicle and being encumbered by the second controllable vehicle;

determining an open lane in the mitigation road segment, the open lane adjacent to a control lane in the mitigation road segment; and

a target mitigation speed is applied to a first controllable vehicle in the control lane and a second controllable vehicle in the encumberable lane, the target mitigation speed being based on a traffic state of the open lane, the target mitigation speed adjusting a flow of traffic flowing through the open lane to mitigate traffic congestion located downstream of the mitigation road segment.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the first controllable vehicle and the second controllable vehicle comprises:

determining a first controllable vehicle whose distance between the first controllable vehicle and the traffic jam satisfies a jam distance threshold; and

and determining a second controllable vehicle, wherein the distance between the second controllable vehicle and the first controllable vehicle meets the initial vehicle distance threshold value.